DRAFT Minutes and Officer Reports from Exeter Wheelers Committee Meeting

Date: 11^th November 2024, 7.30 p.m.

Venue: First Floor, Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter, EX1 2JB

Present: Ian Hennessey (IH), Andy Webb (AW), Pete Bishop (PB), Jon Hare (JH), Nick Helsing (NH), James Maddison (JM), Diogo Pacheco (DP), Finlay Webb (FW) and Didier Lebatteux (DL)

1. Apologies rec’d:
   Greg Rorke (GR), Nik Rorke (NR, Mike Rose (MR), Rob Masterson (RM), James Atkinson (JA), Sandy Storrie (SS)
2. Approval of Previous Minutes:
   Minutes were approved
3. 3. Matters arising from Previous Minutes:
   None
4. Correspondence:
   Club secretary (PB) read an email received from Lauren Bos, studying at Exeter University, asking us if, as a club, we would consider being involved in a no-obligation study that is gathering data on a local charity sector refurbished cycles scheme, in this case Ride On. The committee agreed that they would be happy with this, adding that an club member and current EWCC Development Officer Matt Atkinson was a trustee of Ride On. Action: PB to reply to Lauren’s email, expressing our willingness to be involved, and in addition to supply her with Mr Atkinson’s email address.
5. Officer’s Reports (full reports can be found after the Minutes of each meeting)

5.1 Membership – We are currently in a period of transition as SS steps down and RM takes over. PB reported that RM and SS are meeting up in December to effect handover.

5.2 Treasurer – Report from CS received, which included some figures from Escot, but JH pointed out that this was very much an interim report – there would be further income and expenditure figures from the event incoming over the next few weeks.

5.3 British Cycling – NH stated “Nothing to report but well done JH for Escot!”
NH said that the club’s renewal of affiliation to BC was currently on hold due to a technical issue with our Safeguarding accreditation.
JH spoke about Escot, which was Round 6 of the South-West Cyclo-Cross on 10^th November. JH then gave report of EWCC’s staging of this event, telling us that numbers were down on last year, and last year they had been down on the previous year, not by a huge amount in each case, but nevertheless a concern as fewer entries = less income. It is unlikely we will break even this year. He went on to say that across all of the SWCX events this season entry figures were down c. 15%. JH expressed gratitude towards all of those in the club who rallied to the cause and gave up their time over the weekend to ensure the running of the event. It is labour intensive, for not only is there the work of setting up and taking down the course but a considerable amount of personnel are required on race day, all needing to be provided from within our ranks: 8 marshals, 3 lap scorers, 3 on car park, 3 on sign-on desk etc etc.  PB and JH expressed dissatisfaction with how the BC course tape was being managed – lots of tangled and thus unusable tape because few clubs have purchased reels to put tape on. For ourselves we will buy a few more empty hose-pipe reels Action JH – order more empty hose pipe reels.
JH said he would email all helpers to invite them to an informal ‘wash-up’ meeting, where they could again be thanked, and where feedback on current processes could be gathered. Action JH – contact helpers with invite.
This item on the agenda ended with a discussion over the organising body that is SWCX. For each entry the club must pay a levy of £4.50 per rider, and it was felt by the committee that there were concerns over transparency. Action PB – compose a draft communication to be sent to SWCX expressing the committee’s concerns over visibility of a) SWCX Committee Composition/Structure b) SWCX Committee Meeting Calendar c) SWCX Accounts. The EWCC Committee were mindful that the SWCX League was an effective organ for CX in the SW. However, it was strongly felt that we should raise our concerns over ‘opaqueness’ with them, but whilst making sure to be diplomatic.

5.4 Cycling Time Trials – MR reported ‘It’s winter, nothing to report’

5.5 Audax/Road Records Association – IH reported that plans were in hand for various events next year, including the Exe-Buzzard 600km event, and that there would be a new event for the Mad March 200.

5.6 Go-Ride – DP has taken on this role, and reported has been actively recruiting new young members among my his two son’s friends, and  was successful in bringing five of them to participate in the youngster’s races at Escot. They were distributed across the age categories as follows: two in U8, one in U10, and two in U12.

 5.7 Rides – JH said that with his attention having been on the organisational demands of Escot the past few weeks he was not as much in the loop re: rides, but that as far as he was aware all was well, and it was pleasing to note that the rides have returned to normal levels of non-crashinesses.

6. A.O.B – JH said he would like to look at the possibility of the club running an off-road/gravel sportive, possibly in partnership with a ‘event company’; with competitive events across the board currently only breaking even at best such an event might be a way for the club to generate some welcome income. Action JH – research possibilities and report back.
   PB spoke on the subject of the EWCC Awards Night. It is the case that there are few suitable venues available. Feedback from attendees at the Centenary Awards & Celebration night at the St James Centre had been good concerning the venue. Action – PB to contact St James Centre to enquire about availability. The possibility of a Guest Speaker was raised – Action AW – contact Will Tidball to see if might be happy to attend and speak
7. Date, Time and Place of next meeting: Monday 9^th December, 7.30 p.m. at The Cuckoo Bar (if still available)

 

Officer’s Reports in Full:

Treasurer (CS):

Bank Balances
Current – £737.51
Saving – £18,279.84
PayPal – £393.17
Total – £19,410.52

October Income
Escot – £94.00
Memberships – £82.50
Interest – £29.90
Total Income – £206.40

October Expenses
Escot – £264.00
Storage – £100.00
Race Team – £78.00
Bank Charges – £5.00
Membership fee’s- £3.90
Total Expenses- £450.90

 

Audax & Road Records Association (IH):

From the Chair: welcome to our new Secretary and others who have stepped up to help the club.  Thanks also, for all their work, to those who have retired.

AUK: Sarah’s and my events for next year are all published.We have decided to run the Kernow & SW and the Exe-Buzzard 600s in alternate years, so this year it’s the turn of the Exe-Buzzard.  The Exe-Buzzard route is changed to remove some main road bashes.  Sarah has a new route for the Mad March 200, which involves a visit to Bude.

Nothing from RRA.